Augmented Reality in Your Face (Augmented Identity)

A cool use for Augmented Reality (AR)

We talked here recently about what AR is (and the extent of my obsession with AR) and today, I want to share with you a really cool way it might actually be used!

Remember, AR is overlaying a computer generated image on to a real life situation by using a camera, either webcam or cell phone camera.

Add AR to the global obsession of social networks, and you get a prototype for a program called Recognizr which will learn peoples’ faces and link them to their social networks. This way, you can walk into a conference, hold up your phone, and as the apps recognize faces in the room, the logos of their social networks pop up and hover around their heads. Cool!

Here’s how the prototype works:

This isn’t science fiction, this is real, guys. Just like you upload the MLS box key application to your phone, you may soon be able to put your phone up to someone’s face and see their networks. Many programs have facial recognition, so just imagine when you add in GPS and a buyer who stands in a street and an app recognizes each home for sale and hovers data points above them. Awesome!

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AGBeat Chief Operating Officer: Lani, named 100 Most Influential, as well as 12 Most Influential Women in Blogging, Bashh Founder, Out and about in Austin A Lister, is a business and tech writer and startup consultant hailing from the great state of Texas in the city of Austin. As a digital native, Lani is immersed not only in advanced technologies and new media, but is also a stats nerd often buried in piles of reports. Lani is a proven leader, thoughtful speaker, and vested partner at AGBeat.

18 Comments

( March 2, 2010 )

I am a little worried about the privacy laws which are governing augmented reality at the moment. What if you walk into a conference, take a photo of a group of three people and one happens to be under 18? You then auto send a Twitter invitation to all 3 and begin an online conversation with someone who is potentially 16..I’m not saying that Realtors ever do anything nefarious, but there is potential in other industries. Hasn’t Japan had problems with this?

( March 2, 2010 )

It’s new ground, that’s for sure. Like any new technology, it will be scary at first, then regulated, then commonplace. But, it’s not illegal to talk to someone underage- we ask the bag boy at the store to help us to our car, we tutor, we talk to our childrens’ friends when they’re over (mostly to ask ‘em to pipe down), etc. but it’s just like real life- you have to be careful and clean.

I suspect that eventually *all* social networks will force confirmations before connecting with minors as we’ve been pushing Facebook to do, but for now, it’s new ground. We’ll see how it all comes together, just like we did when the phone came out and then when email opened even more doors.

Duke Long

( March 2, 2010 )

Lani,
Reference my AG post on Commercial Real Estate and this technology. Calling you out in public!!! I Will find the latest and greatest Aug Reality apps and tell the world first! Good luck girl because the throw down IS ON !!

( March 2, 2010 )

The real estate application with this is awesome. The brokerage I work for currently has this on their iPhone App. Hold the camera up to a house and it will display the MLS info for the home. Really cool feature for clients.